There are many applications requiring the accurate measurement of pressure, ranging from the monitoring of physiological parameters for medical research, to the precise control of fluids or gases, to measurement of low energy acoustical signals. Typical applications include industrial process monitoring, such as the monitoring of gas flow under partial vacuums in semiconductor processing facilities to the precise control of air/fuel ratios in automobiles. Typical medical applications include measurement of blood pressure in surgery and in intensive care, air pressure in respiratory diseases, intrauterine pressure in obstetrics, abdominal and urinary pressure for diagnosis of disorders, and the like. In some such applications, it is desirable to measure pressure with an extremely small sensor so as not to disturb the system being monitored. For example, cardiovascular catheterization has become a major and common diagnositic tool in dealing with the cardiovascular system. In angioplasty (balloon pumping) to treat occlusions in the coronary artery of the heart, there is presently no satisfactory means of judging the results on-line, that is, as treatment is being administered. Existing catheter-tip pressure sensor are single-point, not highly reliable, very expensive, and too large for use within the coronary artery. Also, they typically offer only low-level output signals which are very susceptible to noise and artifact.
Recent advances in silicon micromachining technology have allowed the development of a wide range of solid-state pressure sensors. Amongst the most useful, on account of their increased sensitivity, are capacitive pressure sensors. In the past few years the use of impurity-sensitive etch-stops and deposited diaphragm structures have resulted in precise, ultrathin diaphragms that have substantially broadened the range of practical structures which can be realized. In particular, a significant miniaturization of solid-state pressure sensors is now feasible. See for example, H. Guckel, et al, "Laser-Recrystallized Piezoresistive Micro-Diaphragm Sensor," Dig. Tech. Papers, IEEE Int. Conf. Solid-State Sensors and Actuators, pp. 182-185 (June 1985).; R. S. Hijab and R. S. Muller, "Micro-mechanical Thin-Film Cavity Structures for Low Pressure and Acoustic Transducer Applications," Dig. Tech. Papers, IEEE Int. Conf. Solid-State Sensors and Actuators, pp. 178-181 (June 1985).; and S. Sugiyama, et al, "Micro-Diaphragm Pressure Sensor," IEDM Tech. Dig., Dec. 1986. For a general review of factors affecting performance and down-sizing of pressure sensors, see H. L. Chau and K. D. Wise, "Scaling Limits in Batch-Fabricated Silicon Pressure Sensors," IEEE Trans. Electron Devices, Vol. ED-34, Apr. 1987. Thus, some techniques are now known for fabricating thin diaphragms essential for the ultraminiature sensors. However, improved fabrication techniques are needed along with improved sensor packaging and interface electronics in order to allow the sensors to be scaled downwardly while maintaining high performance and high yield. The most commonly used techniques for forming a diaphragm and supporting rim structure from a silicon wafer involve anisotropically etching a recess for the reference cavity of the transducer on the front side a silicon wafer, and selectively etching away 90% or more of the back of the silicon wafer in order to form a diaphragm of desired thickness. The diaphragm thickness is typically controlled using a boron buried layer or a p-n junction etch-stop. This back etching is done normally with preferential etchants which give a bevel having a wall angle of about 52 degrees. Due to the thickness of the silicon wafer, much lateral area around the diaphragm of the transducer is required, thus making it difficult to produce a small device. This use of lateral space is not productive, in that it is not a functional part of the sensor.
Many solid-state pressure transducers or sensors are made using a silicon wafer which is first preferably etched, and then electrostatically bonded to a glass substrate. In many such sensors, particularly those having larger diaphragms, the electrostatic bonding process requires the application of a very high applied field which tends to pull the diaphragm over the glass and weld it to the glass, thus resulting in an inoperable device. To avoid this problem, a field shield plate, which can be one of the electrodes of the capacitive transducer, is grounded during the sealing processing. However, grounding of individual capacitor plates during a batch process is very hard to arrange, and is more effectively done only when the transducers are bonded to a supporting piece of glass one at a time. However, to produce commercial quantities of transducers, it is highly desirable to be able to seal an entire wafer of silicon transducers to a glass plate at one time without having to ground the individual capacitor plates of the transducers.
Another problem with many techniques used for producing solid-state pressure sensors is that numerous processing steps are required, including a number of steps requiring critical alignment and masks and the like, thus increasing costs and reducing yield. Thus, it would desirable to provide for a simpler, more reliable process requiring fewer processing steps and fewer critical alignment steps. In this regard, it is noted that existing techniques for making ultraminiature pressure sensors are typically costly. For example for sensors approaching one millimeter in diameter, devices may cost as much as several hundred dollars each. Clearly, it would very desirable to provide a pressure sensor structure and method of making it which would permit the cost of producing such ultraminiature devices to be reduced considerably, perhaps by as much as an order of magnitude or more.
In light of the foregoing, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide an improved solid-state pressure sensor structure and method of making it which allows ultraminiature pressure sensors to be fabricated with fewer, less costly steps and greater yield. Other objects of the present invention include eliminating the large rim areas associated with existing pressure sensors having a diaphragm and rim structure made from bulk silicon, and eliminating the need to provide a field shield plate during the electrostatic bonding process.
Other objects of the present invention include providing a pressure sensor that is capable of multipoint operation, is addressable, and is compatible for use on a multisite catheter having only two leads, namely the electrical power supply leads. One more object is to provide such a sensor which allows on-chip temperature measurement for purposes of compensation. Yet another object is to provide such a catheter system suitable for medical uses such as cardiovascular catheterization. Additional objects of the invention include providing a transducer fabrication process that is fully batch in nature and does not require individual handling of small parts.